Cracker Barrel’s CEO is stepping down

New York (CNN) — The CEO of Cracker Barrel, who was “fired by America” after the public freaked out over its corporate redesign, is stepping down for real.

Julie Masino will leave her role as CEO next month and stay on as a company advisor until October, Cracker Barrel said Monday. She’ll be replaced by David Deno, a restaurant and retail industry veteran.

Masino took over Cracker Barrel in 2023 and embarked on a plan to revive the struggling casual dining chain. Cracker Barrel dumped its folksy “old timer” logo that it had used since the 1970s and began to modernize its restaurants.

But the redesign ran into a political and cultural firestorm on social media last summer.

Critics on the right bashed the changes as “woke” and accused the company of embracing “radical left-wing politics,” such as promoting gay rights and policies to hire and promote more minority candidates. President Donald Trump weighed in and encouraged the company to reverse course. Foot traffic and revenue slumped.

Cracker Barrel stopped the updates in their tracks, reverting to its old logo and canceling plans to remodel restaurants.

Shares of Cracker Barrel (CBRL), which plunged to lose more than half their value during the controversy, have since bounced back. Cracker Barrel reported better-than-expected revenue in its most recent quarter, and it raised its outlook for the year.

Masino also survived an activist investor fight last November after shareholders voted in favor of keeping her. Board member Gilbert Dávila, a longtime marketing and diversity specialist, didn’t receive enough votes to stay on the board and resigned.

Masino largely kept quiet after the blowup, speaking only on earnings calls, at a conference and during a lengthy November interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck.

“I feel like I’ve been fired by America,” she told Beck.

The-CNN-Wire
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